TakingITGlobal

Whose Land? www.whose.land Whose Land? Professional Development Series OVERVIEW This workshop series will introduce participants to Indigenous topics such as Indigenous naming terminology, history of Indigenous and settler relationships in Canada and the importance of land acknowledgements. First, to assess prior knowledge, participants will engage in small group discussions centering around the theme of culture, land and place. Next, participants will be tasked with learning one aspect of Indigenous history. Participants will rotate groups to share their knowledge with others. Finally, participants will collaborate on a suitable workplace Indige- nous land acknowledgement. Note: It is encouraged those workplaces make a list of mental health resources available for staff engaging in this training, as some of the topics may be emotionally difficult to learn about. FORMAT This workshop is designed to be an easily implementable lunch-and-learn series facilitated by a fellow co-worker volunteer or group of volunteers. Volunteer facilitators do not need to have any prior teaching or facilitating experience, as this professional development workshop plan will cover all the basics. It is expected that facilitators will engage in the discussions along with everyone else. It is up to organizations to determine if having one or more facilitators at a time will work best, and if there should be a new facilitator each session. Sessions are designed to be an hour long in length, with a total of four sessions. FACILITATOR QUALITIES While facilitators do not need to have any prior teaching or facilitating experience, they should have the following qualities: effective communication skills and ability to engage in respectful dialog about difficult topics, an openness to learning about Indigenous topics, a positive attitude, and a demonstrated commitment to anti-racism. WORKPLACE CON- NECTIONS AND COMPETENCIES Learning about Indigenous topics is an essential step in building cultural competency. Cultural competency is the "ability to understand, appreciate and interact with people from cultures or belief systems different from one's own" 1 . In this case, learning about Indigenous topics will help participants better understand, respect and engage with Indigenous populations. Research shows that when a workplace values cultural competency, it can lead to a reduction of conflict, racism and discrimination both within the organization itself, and in the interactions of the orga- nization with the public 2 . DURATION 4 one-hour sessions PART 1: SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS (1 HOUR) Big Idea: Participants will engage in small group discussions to tap into prior knowledge and discuss prior learning as well as personal opinions and experi- ences relating to culture, land, and place Begin the session by dividing participants into groups of 3-4. Inform them that they will be engaging in small group discussions, and you will pose one question at a time for groups to discuss for about 2-3 minutes. Every person in the group should speak, and participants who notice someone in their group is not speaking should invite them into the conversation by gently stating their name and asking what their thoughts or opinions are on the topic. This could sound like "Rachel, what do you think about x,y,z?" After the 2-3 minutes is up, solicit groups to summarize what they talked about with the rest of the class. Lesson Plan 1 DeAngelis, T. (2015, March). In search of cultural competence. Monitor on Psychology, 46(3). http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/03/cultural-competence 2 Black, Stewart, et al. "Diversity and Its Impact on Companies." Organizational Behavior, OpenStax, 27 Feb. 2019, opentextbc.ca/organizationalbehavioropenstax/ chapter/diversity-and-its-impact-on-companies/.

• Professional Development Series